


Drastic Measures

by malum_animi



Series: The Measure of Love [1]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-05-17 02:52:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5851324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malum_animi/pseuds/malum_animi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Taker and Kane knew a thing or two about betrayal and it was hard not to feel sorry for Seth Rollins as they both watched him trail after his former shield brothers, trying to repair what he'd broken. </p><p>Kidnapping the three of them was drastic, but necessary in their eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set sometime in the future, where Dean and Roman are champs and Taker has made a nearly full time return against the Wyatts, a feud that will be drawn out a lot longer that it was.

Taker might not have been in the WWE full time anymore, but he still had eyes and ears in the business and it didn't take being there every waking moment to know that the three former members of The Shield were miserable. As World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns should have been on top of the world, proudly looking down from his throne at the people he'd beaten to get to this point. Especially considering the shit the McMahon family had put him through. He shouldn't have been quiet and withdrawn, keeping to himself and out of the spotlight. And Dean Ambrose, as Intercontinental Champion, should have been focusing on bringing back some respect to the title, defending it night if he had to and making whatever allies he could. He shouldn't have been spending night after night drinking, racking up DQ's after DQ's in the ring and nearly biting the heads off of anyone besides Roman who dared get too close.

And then there was Seth. Seth Rollins. The destroyer of The Shield. Taker had known, as soon as he found out about it, that any deal made with Hunter was bound to come back and bite him in the ass. You didn't make a deal with the devil and come out on the winning side. But Seth was young, he was brash, and he wanted the world. It didn't surprise Taker that Hunter had been able to get under his skin, coerce him into turning on the brothers that anyone could tell he loved deeply.

Betrayal was something Taker knew well. He'd lost count of the number of times he and Kane had turned on each other. How many bitter rivalries and brutal matches they had had. They were together now, fighting beside each other against those upstart Wyatts. It might last, it might not, they could find themselves against each other again, Taker didn't know. But in the end they were brothers, and no matter what that wasn't changing.

That was a lesson the three young hounds had yet to learn.

Kane had told him of the way Seth was trailing around after Dean and Roman. Stripped of the title and ousted from The Authority, Seth didn't have a friend one in the business and he'd brought it onto himself. There was no surprise he'd tried to mend burnt bridges, and no surprise when Roman and Dean had denied him, tossing him out of their locker room. Taker hadn't had much pity for him at first, he hadn't been forced to turn on his brothers, he'd made his own bed and he was going to have to lie in it.

Then he'd actually seen the boy. And it uncomfortably reminded him of another little high flyer. From the dead eyes and the slumped shoulders and the missing smile, Seth Rollins tugged at the strings of Taker's usually frigid heart. The situations might have been different, but Taker knew the start of a spiral when he saw one. And he couldn't let that happen. There was no one else to pick Seth up when he fell to pieces, no one else to be there when he tried to put himself together. But. He didn't really know how to do it. Neither did Kane. This was different. Different times, different people, and Taker and Kane were on the outside of things this time, not thrust in the middle.

So he called Shawn.

_"Well well well, if it's not my deadman, and here I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me! I've not heard from you once since you took up your little crusade to send the creepy hillbillies to the fiery depths of Hell."_

Cracking the barest hint of a smile, Taker chuckled into the phone as he kicked his feet up onto the chair in front of him "You're well aware of my one track mind Shawn. One would think you'd be used to it by now."

He could hear Shawn huff a tad dramatically, probably pouting as if Taker was there to see it " _Yeah but that doesn't mean I like it. You know how I get without constant attention. Do I have to remind you of the Playgirl fiasco?"_

With a roll of his eyes, Taker replied "No you don't. I don't think anyone can forget that. And you'll have to forgive me but I actually had a reason to call beyond your need for affection." To anyone else, Taker would probably come off very cold on his end of the phone call, but he knew Shawn could see through that, they had after all, been together for years. 

_"...you owe me. Big time you hear?"_

_"_ Understood. Now. I need help reuniting Rollins, Reigns, and Ambrose." 

_"The Shield? Why are you trying to play matchmaker for the puppies?"_

"Because I can."

_"Ever the man of words. Honestly darlin', the only way you're going to get those three to have a decent conversation with each other that doesn't include insults and spears is if you kidnap them and force them to."_

"...hm." He hadn't considered that. 

_"Hm? What do you mea--Oh no. Taker I was kidding! Don't you dare kidnap them, I refuse to be held responsible when Hunter finds out!"_

"Don't worry yourself over that. I owe you." 

_"Taker--!"_

With that Taker ended the call, tapping the phone against his chin for a moment before he glanced off to his side, seeing Kane leaning against the wall by the door "Haven't you learned to knock yet?" 

"What did Michaels have to say?" 

Straight to the point, one of the things he loved about his brother. "He suggested we kidnap them. It could work. We could take them to the house, no way Hunter could reach them there and they'd be forced to interact with each other." 

" _Michaels_ suggested that?"

"In a way." 

Kane chuckled and shook his head as he stepped away from the wall and moved to sit down next to his older brother "You're right, it could work. Seth's not scheduled to make an in ring return for several more months and Ambrose and Reigns don't have any competition at the moment. As long as we have them back well before Mania, I don't think we'll have a problem." 

"I know I'm right." Taker hummed, leaning back in his seat, fingertips tapping against each other, blue tinged electricity sparking between them. "Go and collect Rollins. I'll deal with the other two." 

He didn't need to look over to know Kane had vanished, the smell of smoke and flame told him that and he chuckled to himself. This was certainly going to be interesting. 

 

 

Seth Rollins was most certainly not pouting. Nope. And he most certainly wasn't staring down at his cell phone sadly after being hung up on again after another failed attempt at talking to Roman. He wasn't sure why he kept trying, it was obvious he and Dean didn't want anything to do with Seth. And he didn't blame them. He didn't want anything to do with himself either. Why would he? He was nothing but a lying, backstabbing little bitch who didn't deserve to be forgiven by his former brothers. But it didn't stop him from trying. He missed Dean and Roman more than anything in the world. He missed riding with them, he missed drinking with them, piling into a bed together because for some reason they'd never stopped booking single bed rooms after they could afford more. 

Tossing his phone aside, he frowned and looked down at his knee. Fucking knee. If he hadn't blown it out, he'd still be on the road and maybe he'd have a better chance of showing Roman and Dean that he was really truly sorry for his actions. There was only so much he could do from Iowa. He'd flown out a couple of times, trying to mend things by meeting up with them backstage. The last time had ended up with him literally thrown out on his ass by Dean. He wasn't sure Dean had remembered the fact that he was a leg down. He'd been bedridden for two days after, unable to walk. 

Finally giving up and tossing his phone aside, Seth sighed, rubbing his hands over his face, grabbing his crutches and pushing himself up off the couch with a groan. He'd take his pain pills, maybe make himself a sandwich, and go to bed. That was all he did these days anyway, beyond rehab. 

He hadn't expected to step into his kitchen and see Kane.

He knew, everyone knew that Kane and his brother weren't human. It had been why he'd been so worried once it was obvious The Authority no longer had control over the demon. He hated Hunter for that. It had been his idea. Test the demon, see how well their control over him was working. Well. Everyone saw how that ended. He might have won their feud in the end, but that didn't mean he wasn't still scared of the devil's favorite demon. 

Eyes wide, Seth swallowed hard, limping backwards out of his kitchen, squeaking a little when Kane followed him. "Kane...come on man. I...I thought we put this behind us." he said with a yelp as he hit the wall, pressing up against it like he could vanish into it. 

He wasn't sure if it worried him more that Kane wasn't talking, or that he was smiling. Probably the smile. He was glad no one was around to see the way he squeezed his eyes closed and mumbled a little prayer as he saw a large hand reach out for him. This was it. This was the end. This was how Seth Rollins died. 

And then he landed on his ass. 

 

 

Dean wasn't sure what city he and Roman had found themselves in. He tended to lose track of things like that easily, trusting Roman to get them where they needed to be and on time. Dean just made sure not to lose Roman and he was good. They had checked into their little hotel room a few hour ago and were stumbling back into it now, hanging off of each other after getting some dinner and beers. 

Grinning widely at Roman as he let the taller man go, Dean stumbled over to the bed, pushing their bags off and flopping down on it with a happy sigh as he stretched out, grabbing his belt off of the nightstand and resting it over his chest, patting the cool metal and waving a lazy hand towards Roman when he called out that he was going to take a shower. 

He was debating joining him when he heard the knock on the door and he frowned. It was nearly midnight, he didn't know who would be needing them at this time. It wasn't any of Roman's family, they'd left them at the bar still drinking and eating. With his title still in hand, Dean rolled off the bed, walking over to the door and tugging it open "The hell do you--" 

He was stopped dead in the middle of his sentence as he stared up at Taker. He hadn't really seen the deadman since his run in with him during The Shield. And that hadn't ended well. "Um..."

"Quiet." 

Dean's mouth shut with a snap as he backed up into the room, eyes never leaving Taker has he strode in, looking around silently. 

"Where's Reigns?"

Dean didn't speak again, just pointed towards the partially closed bathroom door, swallowing hard. Why was Taker here? Sure, Dean knew he'd made a bit of a comeback, it was hard not to when the locker room was suddenly a lot more mature. Was he here to take his revenge against Dean and Roman for the beat down they'd given him? 

"Get him"

Dean nodded and dropped his belt, hurrying over to the bathroom and poking his head on, sending up a small thanks that Roman hadn't gotten into the shower it. "Roman." he hissed, eyes wide as he glanced over his shoulder to see Taker still standing there. Yep, he wasn't hallucinating. "Roman the fucking Undertaker is in our room." 

"...what?!" Roman dropped his shirt with a raised brow and stepped way from the shower. It wasn't that he didn't believe Dean, but well...he didn't believe Dean. But that was Taker standing ominously in their hotel room as Roman stepped out of the bathroom. 

"Taker? What do you wa-" Roman was cut off when Taker strode forward, reaching out and grabbing their shoulders, his grip tight. Roman stumbled forward, his head swimming as Taker pulled them forward, the worn and dirty carpet suddenly replaced by hard wood. 

Blinking his eyes open, Roman rubbed his hand over his face, his other shooting out to make sure Dean was still next to him before he raised his head, looking around the unfamiliar living room before his eyes fell on a far too familiar face.

"...Seth?"

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Seth didn't know what to think. One moment Kane was looming over him in his kitchen, and the next he was sitting on his ass on the floor of a house that definitely wasn't his own. And he was staring up at his former brothers. "Um. Where am I?" he asked, glancing around warily. The sparsely decorated living room was empty except for the three of them, no signs of Kane to be found except for the faint smell of smoke. His knee was throbbing, and he grimaced as he looked down at it, carefully massaging his knee. What was going on? Why had Kane brought him here? Was this some sort of revenge for the demon, handing him over to the two men that hated him more than anything? It didn't seem like Kane's M.O. though, the demon had always preferred a hands on type of revenge. 

And on top of it all, he couldn't even get up off the floor. His crutches were nowhere to be found and, unless he dragged himself over to the couch and pulled himself up, he was stuck on the floor, staring up at his brothers, who were already starting to glare and watch him warily. And he wasn't going to humiliate himself by crawling across the floor in front of Dean and Roman. He had no doubt Dean would mock him for it. The older man didn't seem to care a bit that he was injured. Resigning himself to staying on the floor for the time being, he threw up the walls he had built to keep his emotions in check and glared up at the two older men. "Well? What did you two do? How the hell did you two bribe Kane to do this?" he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"The hell makes you think we had anything to do with this?" Dean snapped right back, taking a step towards Seth, only to be halted by Roman, who pulled him back to his side. "For all we know, this is some Authority bullshit to get Roman and I put out of commission." he grumbled, still glaring darkly at Seth. 

That just made Seth roll his eyes "Oh yeah, cause the Authority is going to send a fucking cripple to do their dirty work." he scoffed, glaring down at his own leg,picking sullenly at a loose thread on his sweatpants. 

Still holding Dean back, Roman huffed softly and tugged him back, stepping far enough away from their former brother that he couldn't hear him. "Dean. Think for a second. Seth can't even stand up. What's he going to do against the two of us?" he pointed out, raising a brow at Dean, who grumbled for a moment longer before crossing his arms over his chest. He couldn't deny that Roman had a point. Just one of them could kick Seth's ass right now, he had no chance against the two of them. 

"Fine. So maybe this isn't some Authority plot, but that still doesn't explain what the hell is going on here." he said, taking a step away from Roman to look between him and Seth, a frown still firmly on his face. 

"I don't know man, one minute I was minding my own business, and the next I had Kane stalking me through my own home." Seth complained, peering up at the other two men. 

"Kane?" Roman asked, frowning as well. "Taker was the one who came to us. Well. Less came and more forced his way into our hotel room and dragged us here." 

Seth chewed on his lip at that. Kane and Taker had been working together for the better part of a year now. But Seth had thought their attention was firmly on the Wyatt's. Why would they even look their way? More less kidnap them. He sighed and looked around the room again. They should at least figure out where they were before they tackled the question of why they were here. "Could one of you...maybe help me up?" he asked hesitantly, looking between Roman and Dean. His shoulders slumped a little as Dean scoffed and turned away. He had figured that would be the response he'd get from Dean.

He didn't look up until he heard Roman sigh and step up to him, and he frowned in confusion for a moment before Roman leaned in and hauled him up, not letting him go until he had his balance. It was good to know that at least Roman was willing to leave him stuck. "Thanks." he mumbled, limping heavily over to the wall so he could lean against it. He wouldn't be able to go up the stairs he could see around the corner of the wall, but he could at least somewhat explore the first floor. "Should we look around?" he asked, glancing over at Roman, who was steadily ignoring the glare Dean was shooting at him. Presumably for helping Seth. 

He didn't get anything more than a stiff nod, and he sighed, keeping against the wall the best he could for balance as he limped over to the window, peering out of the heavy curtains. And let out a disappointed groan. They were in the middle of fucking nowhere. And there was no car in the driveway. So unless Roman or Dean had their phones on them, they were effectively stranded here.


End file.
